Monday, 15 December 2008

The wonderful thing about working your way through your old photographs, converting them into digital images, is that it brings you face to face with memories. This was taken about 30 years ago when we were with our good friends Arthur and Cathy in, I think, East Anglia. Arthur will, I am sure, correct me if I am wrong.

Shepherd's Thorn Lane is part dirt track, part muddy footpath, part road. Amy and I walk there often. Today the bright sun made it all black and white. Looking at the state of Amy's paws I should amend that : black, white and mud.

Saturday, 13 December 2008

I have just noticed that this is the 500th posting to this Blog. Congratulations to myself for sticking with it. Today I am leaving the archives aside for a moment and featuring a photograph I took just yesterday of a tree. A Congratulations Tree.

Friday, 12 December 2008

The man on the left is Charles Pitts, a motorcycling friend of my parents, known to me and my brother as "Uncle Charlie". In the centre is Gladys, my mother, and on the right is my father, Albert. The photograph is recorded as being "France" and this fits in with the "English Spoken" sign. I remember my father telling me that the only time he had ever been abroad in his early life was on a day trip to Calais before the war. This then is that trip.

I'm glad I have rescued this from the dusty, age-cracked, fading archives. It is a picture of me, my brother Roger and my father gazing into the cockpit of what was probably a Spitfire or something similar. I can date it fairly precisely in that I appear to be about 3 and that would make it 1951. The picture appeared in the Yorkshire Evening Post and was taken during a display of World War II fighters at the then Yeadon Airfield (now Leeds-Bradford International Airport).

Tuesday, 9 December 2008

Continuing with Uncle Frank and his holidays, today's picture is entitled "Entrance to the Grand Pier, Weston-Super-Mare". The couple on the left are Auntie Miriam and Uncle Frank, but I am unsure who the lone figure on the right is. It is undated, but I would guess it was taken in the early or mid 1930s. There is a bit of a clue on the extreme left of the photograph where there is an advert for what appears to be Malcolm Campbell's Land Speed Record car, the Blue Bird. From the front of the car, it looks like the Blue Bird which broke the record in 1933, so that would confirm the mid-1930s as the most likely date.

Monday, 8 December 2008

"In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotif." — Henri Cartier-Bresson.

This was taken, I think, by my Uncle Frank. It was in one of his albums, and being Uncle Frank, it was marked with a date and a subject. "On The Pier, Blackpool, 1939" is all that it says. But you can spend an hour searching through that "little human detail" and find a leitmotif for a world about to enter war.

Friday, 5 December 2008

Today's photo is from my archives. I know where it is - this is Market Street in Halifax - but what I am not sure about is when it is. You can get some clues from the cars and the dress, but I would have difficulty it narrowing it down within five years or so. Now if I had a better negative filing system I would know the answer.

About Me

One time lecturer, writer on European Affairs and bus conductor, Alan Burnett now divides his time between walking the dog and a little harmless blogging. His News From Nowhere Blog has been running since 2006 and acts as a showcase for his ranting and writing and his photographs old and new.